hemingray-20

[Brains]

Can the green ones scratch the glass? I've never had any trouble with that... but i have had trouble with the legendary "un-cleanable insulator"...
...it's the insulator that you can never clean. You wash off all the soot, it looks great, but then you slowly watch in horror as the thin film of water that makes your insulator look so shiny and clean dries off, revealing a dull, hazy look. You get a hollow feeling as your hard work fades away right in your hand, and no matter how hard you try you can't get that clean look to last. It just goes away with the water, but that doesn't make any sense so you still try to wash off the haze. You put your insulator back into the acid for a week, maybe a couple weeks, a month, or months, and when you get it out it's no use. Soon, you come to the realization that your time was wasted and that the insulator will never look as good as you hoped it would, so you give up because you know theres nothing you can do.

seriously though... i always clean off all the soot and it's always the good coloured insulators... never the aqua ones... just the better ones that the haze seems to be un-cleanable on. -_-

if you use Lye be careful- that stuffs good for cleaning insulators but it's nasty stuff. Oxalic acid is used in deck cleaners, so it won't melt your hands off if you accidentally come into contact with it. I came into contact with so sodium hydroxide once (oven cleaner)... i wouldn't recommend it. Strong bases are scary.

 

[BillinMo]

Yes, I discovered the green Scotch-brite can be very abrasive. I have a lovely CREB beehive that now has lots of fine scratches all over the surface to remind me.

I've used both oxalic acid and lye over the years, and I've found I prefer lye. I use a fairly weak solution so it's not monstrously dangerous and won't "melt your hand off," although you certainly DO need to be cautious. I use gloves, and I wear glasses and would recommend goggles for anyone who doesn't. I've splashed a bit of the solution on my arm and as long as I rinse it off promptly there are no ill effects. I also have the advantage of no small kids in the house, otherwise I'd never keep a container of lye solution around. It's not worth the risk.

 

[antlerman23]

for the "uncleanable insulators" that brains mentioned, as well as hazy glass, i just get em nice and wet with mineral oil (baby oil), let em sit for a week, then wipe off the oil. it soaks into the slightly porus haze, and leaves a nice shiny surface behind. it may get a little slippery too, so watch out for that!